Field-emission displays are considered an attractive alternative and replacement for liquid-crystal displays, because of their lower manufacturing cost and lower complexity, lower power consumption, higher brightness, and improved range of viewing angles. A review article on the general subject of vacuum microelectronics was published in 1992: Heinz H. Busta "Vacuum Microelectronics--1992," Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 2, No. 2, June, 1992. An article by Katherine Derbyshire, "Beyond AMLCDs: Field Emission Displays?" Solid State Technology, Vol. 37, No. 11, November, 1994, pages 55-65, summarized fabrication methods and principles of operation of some of the competing designs for field-emission devices and discussed some applications of field-emission devices to flat-panel displays. The theory of cold field emission of electrons is discussed in many textbooks and monographs, including the monograph by Robert Gomer, "Field Emission and Field Ionization" (Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1961), Chapter 1, pages 1-31, and the monograph by R. O. Jenkins and W. G. Trodden, "Electron and Ion Emission From Solids" (New York, N.Y., Dover Publications, Inc., 1965), Chapter 4, pages 35-43.